The Szikman Dental Group, P.C.

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND
DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
THE PRIVACY OF YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT TO US.

OUR LEGAL DUTY

We are required by applicable federal and state law to maintain the privacy
of your health information. We are also required to give you this Notice
about our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning
your health information. We must follow the privacy practices that are
described in this Notice while it is in effect. This Notice takes effect
October 1, 2002, and will remain in effect until we replace it.

We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this
Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable
law. We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices
and the new terms of our Notice effective for all health information that
we maintain, including health information we created or received before
we made the changes. Before we make a significant change in our privacy
practices, we will change this Notice and make the new Notice available
upon request.

You may request a copy of our Notice at any time. For more information
about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this Notice,
please contact us using the information listed at the end of this Notice.

USES AND DISCLOSURES OF HEALTH INFORMATION

We use and disclose health information about you for treatment, payment
and healthcare operations. For example:

Treatment: We may use or disclose your health information to a physician, dental
specialist, or other healthcare provider providing or potentially providing
treatment to you.

Payment: We may use and disclose your health information to obtain payment for
services we provide to you.

Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your health information in connection with our
healthcare operations. Healthcare operations include quality assessment
and improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications
of healthcare professionals, evaluating practitioner and provider performance,
conducting training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing
or credentialing activities. In our office, we use a closed (inaccessible
outside our network) dental practice management software program that
contains personal information about you and your family. We routinely
take patient photographs, and display those photos on your patient chart
for identification purposes. We also display a copy of our daily schedule
in selected areas around our office. Regardless, rest assured that every
effort is made within our office to keep your information private.

Your Authorization: In addition to our use of your health information for treatment, payment
or healthcare operations, you may give us written authorization to use
your health information or to disclose it to anyone for any purpose. If
you give us an authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time.
Your revocation will not affect any use or disclosures permitted by your
authorization while it was in effect. Unless you give us a written authorization,
we cannot use or disclose your health information for any reason except
those described in this Notice.

To Your Family and Friends: We must disclose your health information to you, as described in the Patient
Rights section of this Notice. We may disclose your health information
to a family member, friend, or other person to the extent necessary to
help with your healthcare or with payment for your healthcare, but only
if you agree that we may do so.

Persons Involved in Care: We may use or disclose health information to notify, or assist in the
notification of (including identifying or locating) a family member, your
personal representative or another person responsible for your care, or
your location, your general condition, or death. If you are present, then
prior to use or disclosure of your health information, we will provide
you with an opportunity to object to such uses or disclosures. In the
event of your incapacity or emergency circumstances, we will disclose
health information based on a determination using our professional judgement
disclosing only health information that is directly relevant to the person’s
involvement in your healthcare. We will also use our professional judgment
and our experience with common practice to make reasonable inferences
of your best interest in allowing a person to pick up filled prescriptions,
medical supplies, x-rays, or other similar forms of health information.

Marketing Health-Related Services: We will not use your health information for marketing communications without
your written authorization. (OVER)

Treatment Planning and Case Presentation: We may use or disclose your health information (more specifically, “before”
and “after” photographs of selected patients and procedures)
for the purpose of exemplifying case presentation and treatment to patients
requiring that same treatment. In these cases, typically the only area
visible is the mouth or dentition, and usually only a first name is attached
to the photograph, allowing a measure of anonymity.

Required by Law: We may use or disclose your health information when we are required to
do so by law.

Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose your health information to appropriate
authorities if we reasonably believe that you are a possible victim of
abuse, neglect, or domestic violence or the possible victim or other crimes.
We may disclose your health information to the extent necessary to avert
a serious threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of others.

National Security: We may disclose to military authorities the health information of Armed
Forces personnel under certain circumstances. We may disclose to authorized
federal officials health information required for lawful intelligence,
counterintelligence, and other national security activities. We may disclose
to correctional institution or law enforcement official having lawful
custody of protected health information of inmate or patient under certain
circumstances.

Appointment Reminders: We may use or disclose your health information to provide you with appointment
reminders (such as voice-mail messages, postcards, or letters).

PATIENT RIGHTS

Access: You have the right to look at or get copies of your health information,
with limited exceptions. You may request that we provide copies in a format
other than photocopies. We will use the format you request unless we cannot
practicably do so. (You may make a request in writing to obtain access
to your health information. You may request access by using the contact
information listed at the end of this Notice. We will charge you a reasonable
cost-based fee for expenses such as copies and staff time, if those costs apply.)

Disclosure Accounting: You have the right to receive a list of instances in which we or our business
associates disclosed your health information for purposes, other than
treatment, payment, healthcare operations and certain other activities,
for the last six years, but not before September 1, 2002. If you request
this accounting more than once in a 12-month period, we may charge you
a reasonable, cost-based fee for responding to these additional requests,
if costs apply.

Restriction: You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on
our use or disclosure of your health information. We are not required
to agree to these additional restrictions, but if we do, we will abide
by our agreement (except in an emergency).

Alternative Communication: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your
health information by alternative means or to alternate locations. Your
request may be in writing, and must specify the alternative means or location,
and provide satisfactory explanation how payments will be handled under
the alternative means or location you request.

Amendment: You have the right to request that we amend your health information. Your
request must be in writing, and it must explain why the information should
be amended. We may deny your request under certain circumstances.

Electronic Notice: If you receive this Notice on our Web site or by electronic mail (e-mail),
you are entitled to receive this Notice in written form.

QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS

If you want more information about our privacy practices or have questions
or concerns, please contact us.

If you are concerned that we may have violated your privacy rights, or
you disagree with a decision we made about access to your health information
or in response to a request you made to amend or restrict the use or disclosure
of your health information or to have us communicate with you by alternative
means or at alternative locations, you may complain to us using the contact
information listed at the end of this Notice. You also may submit a written
complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will
provide you with the address to file your complaint with the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services upon request.

We support your right to the privacy of your health information. We will
not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or
with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.